


keep it simple

by tciddaemina



Category: Naruto, One Piece
Genre: Dimension Travel, Kirigakure | Hidden Mist Village, M/M, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Seven Swordsmen of the Mist - Freeform, Work In Progress, Zoro POV, Zoro centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:40:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29957643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tciddaemina/pseuds/tciddaemina
Summary: The Straw Hats, they have a routine. Show up at an island, cause a fuss, get into a couple of fights, then round it all off with a party and a decent bit of rum to wash it all down (or ale, or whiskey, hell even sake, Zoro isn't picky). And sure, maybe things vary a bit from island to island, the characters changing, the plans, the plots, but in the end it all comes down to more or less the same thing. Zoro knows that. Helikesthat.This... is different.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Hoshigaki Kisame
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	keep it simple

**Author's Note:**

> Once again have some swordsmen, because it seems that I can't write Naruto without it being about Kisame, except now this time I've dragged One Piece into it too. This is a side project I've got going on sort of as a breather from the big fic I'm writing, so don't expect super regular updates. 
> 
> In any case enjoy.

Zoro likes it when things are simple. 

The Straw Hats, they have a routine. Show up at an island, cause a fuss, get into a couple of fights, then round it all off with a party and a decent bit of rum to wash it all down (or ale, or whiskey, hell even sake, Zoro isn't picky). And sure, maybe things vary a bit from island to island, the characters changing, the plans, the plots, but in the end it all comes down to more or less the same thing. Zoro knows that. He _likes_ that.

This... is different.

Zoro stares down the beach, watching the low clouds hang over the dark shore, waves leaving lines of foam on the iron sand as the wind nips at his heels, cold and biting, and wonders just what exactly he's gotten himself into. Because as much as Zoro hates to admit it, getting lost isn't... unusual for him. This definitively isn't the first time Zoro has found himself on some random beach wondering how the hell he even got there. Difference is usually there's a couple of stages that lead up to it - the _Sunny_ will make port, Luffy will see something that sends him charging off, and Zoro will wander down off the street to go stretch his legs and end up, well... _somewhere_. 

This time... Well, Zoro doesn't know where the Sunny is, but its definitely not here. Last thing he knew, they were trying to outrun a storm, choppy waves rocking the ship even as Nami yelled at Luffy to turn them around and _for gods sake, Luffy, don't turn us into it!_

Things got a little busy after that, but Zoro thinks he would have remembered them pulling into port. At the very least he would have remembered the storm grounding them on some nearby island or something. (Not sink, the Sunny would never sink, not with Luffy at the helm and Nami at the charts, not with Franky down in the engines and Usopp manning the sails). No, the _Sunny_ has merely been... misplaced, that's all. 

Zoro sighs, running his fingers through his short-cropped hair, and scowls as the clouds break out into a low drizzle, a thick mist sweeping over the beach and leaving the air cool and damp. He glances one way down the beach, then the other, seeing not much of anything either way, and then finally does the only thing he can - he shrugs, picks a direction, and starts walking. 

-

And, okay. This isn't the first time that Zoro has gotten lost. This isn't even the first time that Zoro has somehow found himself on some random island with no idea how he got there. (Kuraigana Island was an interesting place once he finally got Mihawk to get off his ass and start teaching him). Zoro knows the drill by now - lost or not, if he wanders around enough he'll eventually bump into the other Straw Hats. All he has to do is follow the sounds of the shouting. 

Usually. Probably. There's always shouting eventually when Luffy is involved, and the rest of the crew isn't much better. Then again, the guys who live here seem awfully quiet - Zoro hadn't even noticed them sneaking up on him, not until the first one unsheathed their blade.

"Hm, I don't suppose you've seen where my captain is, have you?" Zoro says, prodding the downed figure with the toe of his sandal. There's no reply, the man well and truly unconscious, and Zoro rubs the back of his neck with a sigh, looking over the group of downed men. Maybe he'd gone a bit overboard after all, but then what had they expected, attacking him out of the blue like that?

Zoro sighs, giving the man a vaguely disappointed look, because _really_ , you'd think at least one of the fighters would be decent enough to put up a fight if they went around attacking people like that, and then rolls him onto his back to have a look at his weapons. They were some sort of patrol, if their uniforms were anything to go by, and well armed too, with standardized weapons by the looks of it.

Zoro turns the throwing knife over in his hand, testing the balance of the blade, the weight of the alloy, and gives a considering hum - it's well made, Zoro will give them that, even if the shape is a little odd. What's more interesting is that fact that every one of the fighters had been carrying them. They'd drawn them first rather than the swords a couple of them had been sporting, using their throwing knives as their primary weapon, which is... odd. They'd been quiet too - had managed to sneak up on him without making a sound, and when they'd attacked it had been without hesitation. Professionals then, Zoro would bet Wado Ichimonji on it, though whether they're soldiers or mercenaries or something else entirely is yet to be seen.

"Interesting." Zoro says, flipping the throwing knife in his hand. He gives it one last glance and then tucks it back into the man's pocket, standing. Interesting blade or not, Zoro's not about to go stealing weapons from an unconscious opponent, not when they put up such a decent fight in the first place. 

Zoro rubs the back of his head, considering the downed patrol, before finally shrugging and deciding to leave them as is. He didn't cut any of them deep enough to kill them and by the looks of it none of them are going to be waking up anytime soon - not that Zoro really fancies hanging around and waiting anyway, not when it looks like its going to start raining soon. 

Still, Zoro thinks, eyeing the direction the patrol had come from with growing interest, where there's one patrol there's usually more. Soldiers like this don't just pop up out of thin air, after all. And if these are only the grunts... Well, Zoro thinks, Sandai Kitetsu giving a low rumble at his side, already hungering for the next battle, whoevers in charge is bound to be interesting. 

Now all Zoro has to do is find them. 

-

Zoro doesn't really know anything about architecture. One house is much the same as another to him, but even he has to admit that the buildings here look sort of bleak. _Brutalist,_ Robin might call it, and rattle off some long explanation about the artistic movements that lead to the development of such a style and the inherent functionalism of it all or... whatever. Zoro doesn't know. He'll be the first to admit that sometimes Robin's lectures can go in one ear and out the other. 

So yeah, Zoro knows jack shit about architecture, but even he can admit that these guys seem to have a major boner for all things grey - dark sands, dark shores, thick creeping mist and tall concrete fortifications. Inside the town isn't much better, terraces of stone walls and layered concrete buildings, and yeah sure, in a couple of the streets he's found courtyards with a couple of low stone fountains, but for the most part it just seems to be concrete, concrete, and more concrete. 

"You know, you're not really making it easy not to get lost." Zoro tells the groaning man at his feet, even as another wave of furious soldiers comes spilling down the street, darting down from over the rooftops and up from the lower terraces. Zoro'll hand it to them, they're pretty nimble folk. Zoro knocks away the next volley of throwing knives, and meets the next soldier with a swift kick to the chest, sending him sprawling back in the direction he'd come, hitting the soldiers behind him. 

More of them keep swarming, coming scuttling over the rooftops like a nest of kicked ants, and even Zoro's got to admit that its starting to get a little crowded around here. There's a low rumble as another torrent of water suddenly comes crashing down the street, flooding the courtyard even as Zoro ducks and turns, bringing Shusui down in a sharp strike, the blade hissing as he severs the air with enough force to part the flood itself, leaving the waves to crash haplessly against the walls of the nearby buildings, the blunt of the of the force knocked astray.

If Zoro didn't know better he'd think these guys were fishmen, what with the amount of water and mist they've been throwing about. Luffy'd get a kick out of it, that's for sure, if only for the fact that all of these guys seem to be able to do it, even the small fry. A devil fruit? Granted, devil fruit are weird at the best of times but Zoro's never yet seen a one that'd let two dozen different users share its power.

"Hm, there really are a lot of you aren't there?" Zoro notes, as another gaggle of soldiers comes pouring up over the wall. His hand falls to Wado Ichimonji's hilt, considering, before he draws the blade in one smooth movement, baring it to the air to join Shusui in the fight as Zoro turns to meet the approaching flood. Maybe its time to get a little more serious.

The soldiers are skilled and nimble, ruthless, but even they aren't a match for the combined might of Shusui and Wado Ichimonji. Zoro moves through the courtyard, letting his swords guide his paces through a dance of clashing steel and bursting water, bodies falling before him like straw before a farmer's scythe. They'd be quick enough to dodge his strikes, he thinks, if it weren't for the haki. That catches them by surprise, and more than a dozen had fall before they'd realized that the power of his strikes extends far beyond the length of his blades. The new waves are more careful, hanging back and peppering him with ranged shots, but even that isn't enough to save them when Zoro turns his attention their way.

Zoro turns, another splatter of blood hitting the ground as he draws Wado Ichimonji back, the last of his opponents hitting the ground. There's a lot of that now, blood and water, for all that Zoro's been trying not to kill these guys. Water swirls around his ankles, all their flood attacks taking their tool on the street, clear blue slowly being stained pink as more bodies hit the surf and stay there. 

For a moment there's silence, the next wave of attackers conspicuously absent, and as Zoro looks up he figures out why. "Guess you guys are the reinforcements, huh." Zoro says, looking up to the figures gathered on one of the upper terraces. One glance is more than enough to tell that these guys are a different caliber than the flotsam Zoro's been dealing with - they're not in uniform for one, and the look in their eyes...

_A swordsman's eyes are like steel,_ Mihawk had once told him. _You can see it in their gaze, the strength of their resolve, sharper than any blade._

Looking at these guys, Zoro can't say he disagrees. 

"You made a mistake, thinking you could take on Kiri." One woman says, the angular tattoos on her face twisting in a smile so sharp Zoro'd half expect to see in on a shark-type fishman. She steps forward, perching on the edge of the wall, staring down at him with a gaze fit to cut steel. "I don't know what village you're from, but when we're done with you you're going to wish you never left it."

"You people keep saying that as if its supposed to mean something." Zoro says, rolling one shoulder and turning Wado Ichimonji over in his hand. Sandai Kitetsu is singing at his side, eager for blood, but Zoro doesn't draw it just yet. It's not quite time for that yet, he thinks. "Villages this, country that." Zoro says, starting to get a bit irritated with it all. "If you're going to fight just come on and _fight me._ "

"I'm going to enjoy watching you bleed." The woman snarls, eyes narrowing in a furious glare. Zoro just snorts and meets her gaze squarely, raising Shusui in challenge, pointing the blade directly up and her and all her lurking friends. This is the problem with foreign warriors, Zoro thinks, they always get way too caught up in chitchat. 

"Then come on and try it." Zoro says, and grins when the woman snarls, throwing herself over the balustrade. He catches her first attack on the length of his sword, Shusui throwing up sparks as the woman's nails shriek across the blade, sharp as steel - and isn't that interesting? All of these guys are devil fruit users of some variety it seems. 

Zoro dances back, stepping out of the way of her follow up strike, and watches with interest as she hisses, her nails lengthening into something not unlike claws as she lunges forward. Her next attack is fast, startlingly so, and Zoro feels blood spill down his cheek even as he jerks away, barely avoiding catching her nails right across the throat. 

He swipes his tongue across his lip, tastes blood, and can't help but grin. "Ah," Zoro says, even as he and the woman circle each other, careful steps carrying them through the unconscious bodies. "I was hoping that these guys weren't the best you had. Guess I was right."

"Enough chatter." The woman snarls, lunging. It's an impatient attack, but not a thoughtless one - no, even angry its carefully calibrated, carefully considered. Stronger than you'd expect, considering the size of her, which is all the more interesting considering Zoro isn't sensing any haki off her. These guys, these soldiers, whoever they are, they're skilled. Zoro doesn't think he's ever been more delighted. 

The woman is right, Zoro thinks, blocking her first attack and ducking under the sweeping follow up kick - almost as fast as curly-brows, and ain't that something - time to take this seriously. 

She's quick, Zoro will give her that. Ruthless. But all her strength and speed isn't enough to help her win out against Shusui and Wado Ichimonji, not with Zoro fighting seriously. The first stance greets him like an old friend, comfortable and familiar, Shusui and Wado Ichimonji moving in his hands like they have always been there, like they were never meant to be anywhere else. Zoro slips though one form, two, three - and fighting like this, Shusui and Wado Ichimonji in hand, just him, his swords, and the thrill of an enemy to test his edge against, its a little like what Zoro imagines composing music would be like, one movement bleeding into the next like notes in a song, like poetry given living form, every note coming together to produce something new and beautiful and unique, one form into the next into the next. 

It takes three strikes to send the woman to her knees, and a fourth to knock her unconscious, Shusui's hilt catching her on the back of the head. It's not a great ending to the fight, Zoro will admit - she fought better than that, and if Zoro were anywhere else he'd give her a bit more due, but there are more opponents waiting and Zoro can't afford to leave her conscious, not when there's a decent chance she'd use the opportunity to join the fight again as soon as the next person starts crossing swords with Zoro. 

The cluster of people on the terrace has grown and as Zoro watches the mist grows thicker, rolling through the streets like a living thing, roiling and hungry. It's moving too quickly to be a natural fog, the thin mist that had covered the streets quickly growing, spilling around his ankles, his knees, and still only rising. A devil fruit then, again - and really, how many do these people have? This is getting a little ridiculous.

"Time to go." Zoro decides, as more figures begin to creep through the mist, appearing on rooftops, through nearby alleys. The town must have finally got the message that the small fry weren't doing much, because they've finally started to send out their hard hitters. Zoro counts four, eight, fourteen, and then stops counting - because these? These are not good odds, and as much as Zoro would like to stick around and take them all down one by one, test these foreign soldiers and their foreign steel, taste the cut of their mettle, at the end of the day there's one thing that's more important, and Zoro's not about to let himself be captured here before he finds his crew. 

"You wont get away-" One of the downed soldiers snarls, throwing knife still clutched in their white-knuckled fist even as they hack up another mouthful of seawater - really, whoever's throwing around those water attack ought to be a bit more careful. At this point all that rushing water's probably left more bruises on these guys than Zoro did. 

"We'll see about that." Zoro says, and grabs the guy by the back of the shirt, dragging him up under one arm even as the guy yelps and flails, trying to stab at him with his throwing knife. Zoro just knocks it from his hand, hand rising to take Shusui between his teeth as he shifts, falling into stance even as the first wave of opponents spills over the walls, crashing down on him like a wave coming into shore.

"What-" The soldier struggles. Zoro ignores him, raising Wado Ichimonji. 

_Nitoryu - Two Sword Stance_ , Zoro thinks, and _moves_. There's a single moment when the world goes silent, a thin line of blue bisecting the sky where the mist hangs cut, the skies themselves severed neatly in two, and then the stones start rumbling, the street devolving into chaos as one of the nearby towers slides off its foundations, the whole thing beginning to tilt. 

And yeah, the soldiers are a bit distracted after that. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yoy, if you liked it please leave a review on your way out. It really makes my day hearing from you guys, so comments are always welcome.


End file.
